She smiled.
“Want to bet?”
He put the beer down and stole her iced tea instead.
“That will teach you. Besides, you’ll just have to pee every five minutes if you drink it,” Chris stated. “I’m tired of checking under stall doors for assasins.”
She snorted.
Sadly, he was absolutely right. Mac was tapdancing on her bladder twenty-four-seven.
That was okay.
Emma didn’t mind. It was getting close to the time to have him, and she was excited.
“Marie, how are things?” Emma asked. “Is anything off that we need to know about?”
The new manager of Dimitri’s pride and joy shook her head.
“Nope. It’s been smooth sailing here. We received our shipment of cigars, they were wrong, I sent them back. That’s the excitement for today.”
Ahhhh, to be that lucky.
One could only hope that was the only thing that went drastically wrong in a day for them.
“Mr. Gideon won’t be happy, since they are his favorite ones, but he will just have to smoke the ones he’s picked out for Mr. Croft.”
Then she paused.
Realizing what she had said.
Even the people who worked for them knew that there was trouble in paradise.
“Are they better?” she asked. “I miss seeing them in here together. Mr. Gideon has been coming in alone a lot. Is there anything I can do?”
That said it all.
When Dimitri’s employees were seeing that things weren’t good, it was a bad sign.
“Yeah, I think they are,” Emma stated. “They are working on it. Women issues.”
Marie laughed.
“Damn those pesky females.”
Chris lifted the iced tea in the air. “Truth.”
Emma kicked him in the leg.
“Hey!”
Marie found that amusing. Then, it was back to work. When a customer signaled her, Marie had no choice but to go handle the situation.
When she was gone, Chris had to know.
“Are you better with him?” Chris asked, hopefully. “I really don’t want to leave Las Vegas, but I will for you. I’m trying to be neutral, but I’m between a rock and a hard place.”
She understood.
Chris was her best friend—and confidant—but Dimitri was his business partner and friend. It put all of them in that awkward position. It was just one more tie that bound them all together.
“I am. I don’t want to leave either, but I refuse to tell Greyson no if that’s his choice. I can’t make him stay and be miserable. If they work it out, we’ll be staying.”
Chris hoped so.
“Besides, I had an epiphany.”
That made him curious.
“Care to share?” he asked.
“When you love someone, and they disappoint you, you don’t love them less because you get angry. You love them more to prove that to them. We’ve been angry with Dimitri, and instead of showing him love, we’ve let that frustration out, and it fueled this. I’m done being angry.”
“Well, let’s hope Greyson figures that out. If not, where are we moving to after this?” he asked, praying Greyson and Dimitri would work through this.
“I think Idaho.”
Her drink paused halfway to his mouth.
“Pardon?”
“I like potatoes. They are full of potassium and magnesium,” she teased.
“You’re kidding, right?”
She laughed.
“Yes.”
He relaxed.
“I will look fat in farmer’s pants, Ma.”
She snorted.
“I think we need to find a happy medium, but leaving Las Vegas isn’t it. We finally don’t have anyone shooting at us. We worked hard to get to this point. I have faith in my husband. I know Greyson. He was angry when he decided he wanted to leave. He was hurt. Once he’s past that, we’ll all be tucked away in the safe arms of Sky Villa.”
Amen.
Safe was the most beautiful word in the world.
Chris glanced down at his watch. It was time to get this show on the road. Honestly, he wanted to get Emma back to Sky Villa as soon as humanly possible.
Call him paranoid, but Vegas had made him this way.
“She should be up in the room by now,” Chris stated. “We should get this done. Do I need to remind you of the rules?”
She stared at him.
“Yeah, because I can’t seem to recall the main one. Was that kick you in the ass for being a bossy man or make your life hell for turning caveman on me?”
He laughed.
“It was STAY BEHIND ME.”
“It’s the better view, Mr. Ford. Someone’s been doing squats,” she teased.
He yanked on her ponytail.
“Brat, but in this case, you aren’t kidding. Squats are your friend. I suggest you start. You’re looking a little bloated,” he teased, pointing at her belly.
“You’re funny…looking.”
And that was their relationship.
Holding out his hand, Chris helped her down from her bar stool. Yes, people were watching. While no one was shooting at them, there were still rumors of some illicit affair.
Chris didn’t mind.
Let them talk.
After a while, you became accustomed to the crazy, and it didn’t bother you as much. For now, they were focused on one thing.
This case tied to Zachary Lipton.
As they rode up in the elevator, people stared at them. Again, Chris didn’t mind. He kept Emma tucked under his one shoulder, his gun accessible to his other hand in case the need should arise.
As they were getting out, he felt the curious looks.
“She’s voracious. We need a nooner,” he stated to them in parting.
Their faces said it all.
She laughed her ass off all of the way down the hall. It was just more proof how good they were at their jobs—and how crazy people were.
They liked to make shit up without proof.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be on top,” Chris stated. “You gained some weight.”
Yeah, tell her about it. She pinched him on the ass in retaliation.
“Geez! Wait until we get in the room! People will talk,” he teased, signaling to Nikita at the end of the hall which one they were going into.
“Not funny,” Emma stated, but it was.
When they arrived at the door, he knocked, and Chris put Emma behind him. She couldn’t wear body armor. It was just a fact of the situation, but that didn't mean he wasn’t going to take all precautions necessary at this point to ensure that no one hurt her. If anything happened to her child, the shit would hit the fan. Greyson would lose his mind.
It was hard to swallow that Mac was now a target.
A big one.
The family was trying to keep her safe.
They rarely let Emma out of Sky Villa, but when they had to, normally, there were more people on her.
Greyson wasn’t taking any chances at this point. He was pretty much hovering. In the beginning, they didn’t think she’d survive—especially after being stabbed. They were in the home stretch, and they would see Mac born.
There was a light at the end of the tunnel.
Chris focused on the door. He could hear footsteps approaching it from the other side.
“Who is it?” the soft female voice said.
“It’s John.”
There was a latch being undone, and then eyes peeping around the corner. Slowly, the door opened, and the woman let them in.
She was dressed like a call girl, and she was so damn young—as in ‘should be home doing calculus’ young.
At that moment, Emma wanted to mother her.
How could she not?
She wanted to take the girl into the bathroom, wash her face to free it of all of the garish makeup and force her to put on clothes that didn’t show off too much T and A.
Yeah, this was why
they really couldn’t leave Las Vegas. These lost children.
They were everywhere.
“Ready to have a talk?” Chris asked, heading in, his eyes scanning the room.
“Yes.”
“Give me a second. I need to make sure Mrs. Croft is safe.”
“I wasn’t expecting her,” the young girl stated. She was relieved though. She wasn’t nearly as skittish around women.
“We had to switch it up.”
Then, Chris checked the bathroom, the closet, and under the bed. When he was finished, he was good with allowing Emma to roam the room.
Meanwhile, the young girl stood there.
Emma held out her hand and made the introductions. The poor girl looked freaked-out.
“I’m Emma.”
She held out her hand and shook Emma’s.
“Thank you for doing this. I’m Alexsandra Kidd,” she stated.
It was clear the girl hadn’t been in the business long. She wasn’t using a fake name yet. At some point, women came to Vegas, began stripping, hooking, or being a call girl, and realized that they needed to be safe, so they took a fake name.
Bunny.
Trixie.
Stardust.
That Alexsandra hadn’t, yet, said it all.
Emma knew her side mission was going to be getting this girl out of the business.
There was time.
“Can I sit?” Emma asked. “I’m carrying some extra weight, and my feet are killing me,” she stated.
Alexsandra nodded.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m just freaked-out to be meeting with you. I’ve seen you on TV.”
Who hadn’t?
Emma sat down on the bed and made herself comfortable. When she propped her feet up, the weight of her son was off of her body.
Finally.
Emma knew that if they were going to save this girl, it would take the normal things that she likely lacked in her life.
Respect.
Kindness.
Love.
“Chris, will you order us some lunch? Alexsandra looks like she should eat something. I know I need to,” she stated.
“You don’t have to do that, Mrs. Croft.”
“Emma, and yes, I do. I could eat a house. Please join me so I don’t feel like I’m being rude.”
She gave in.
“Okay, Emma.”
Chris saw her getting through to the girl, so he pulled out his phone and ordered. Emma was damn good at this. When people saw her, since she was pregnant, they related differently to her. She wasn’t so much a rich woman, but a mother-to-be.
Emma patted the bed beside her, and then sat Indian style, Mac wresting on her legs.
“Okay, this is fairly easy,” Emma stated. “You tell us what’s going on, and we tell you if we’ll handle your case. Put the nerves away. I’m a normal person, and we want to help.”
The girl tried to relax.
It wasn’t easy.
Being in her situation, you had to be wary of everyone around you. She’d learned that.
“I came here a year ago. I wanted out of a bad life at home. My mother was a druggie, and she would bring men home all of the time. They started touching me. My dad has been out of my life for about ten years. He bailed.”
Emma listened.
She wished she didn’t hear this story over and over again, but she did.
It was the theme of Vegas and the girls lost to the night.
“So, I left. I came here thinking I could get a job, start a life, and maybe make something of myself. I wanted to be a nurse,” she stated.
Emma’s heart broke.
This poor girl.
She wanted to help people.
Now she was stuck.
“Well, I couldn’t pay the rent and go to school. I just couldn’t swing it. So I picked up night work. I started escorting as a call girl,” Alex said, pointing at her clothes.
“I’m with you so far.”
“I met this really sweet girl. Her name is Misty. She was kind, and she needed a friend too. We began renting a place together. You know…safety in numbers.”
She was aware.
It was, also, common in Vegas. Sharing the insane rent made life easier.
“Well, we worked for the same madam. When you have a friend, everything is easier,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Misty knew what it was like. We bonded.”
Emma handed her a tissue and urged her to continue.
“One night, she went out on a ‘date’ and she never came back. I asked the madam, and she said she’d heard from her. She was fine and decided to get out of the business.”
“But?” Emma asked, knowing where this was heading. She was going to make the leap that Misty was dead. That was the ONLY way out of the business.
“Misty and I had a pact. She wouldn’t bail, and neither would I. If we took an overnight job, we’d send a text in the morning to check-in.”
“She never texted?”
The girl shook her head.
That broke Emma’s heart.
“So, I went to the police, and I reported her missing. They did the report, and that was it. Honestly, they didn’t give a shit. I could tell. The man behind the counter stared at me like I was garbage. I may be, but my friend is missing, and I want to help her.”
Emma held her hand as Chris finished up his call. When he sat nearby, the girl looked nervous.
“Sweetie, he won’t hurt you. He’s on baby protection duty. Mr. Croft wants to make sure I give him this big jumbo baby. I promise that Chris is a pussycat.”
Chris meowed.
Alexsandra laughed.
It broke the ice.
“I’m sorry. I’m not good around men. I know that’s weird since I’m basically a hooker.”
She stopped her.
Emma didn’t want the girl to trash herself.
“We don’t judge. We know what Vegas is like. We’ll help you.”
Chris got it.
That was all he had to hear.
He knew what was next.
Knowing Emma, and how she was trying to soothe Alexsandra, they were doing more than helping her find Misty.
They were going to help her.
Without her having to say anything, he began sending the emails to Dante upstairs.
Someone was going to be working on extricating a girl from the system. They might not save Misty, but they would save Alexsandra.
“Continue,” Emma stated, urging the girl on.
“So, I went home, and I was called for a job that night. Only, when I arrived early, I heard my madam telling someone on the phone that he was cut off from any more girls.”
That was curious.
They knew who the ‘he’ was.
“And?”
“She said, ‘Mr. Lipton, Zachary, you can’t blow through my girls like that. It will make the cops sniff around’.”
Emma got it.
That said it all.
It looked like they’d be talking to a madam at some point in this job. Misty hadn’t quit the business.
Willingly.
“I panicked, Emma. I pretended not to hear, but I showed up. I went out, and I was sick over it. I think that whoever Zachary Lipton is, he killed my friend. I think he killed Misty, and my madam knows and doesn’t care.”
Emma agreed.
“I found Mr. Gideon’s card, and word on the street is that if you have a card, it’s like that golden ticket. You’ll help. I can’t pay. I can barely afford my rent now that Misty is gone. Please, Mrs. Croft. Can you help me?” she begged.
Yeah, with what they knew, that was likely what happened. They wouldn’t lie to her, giving Alex false hope regarding finding her friend.
But they would help with everything else.
“I won’t lie, Alexsandra. She’s likely dead,” Emma stated. “I’m sorry for that. I really am.”
Alexsandra wiped her eyes, and at the knock on the door, she jumped.
“It
’s okay. It’s only lunch,” Chris offered.
She looked skeptical.
Chris headed to the door, giving Emma time to work her mom magic.
“Your madam has you scared, doesn’t she?” Emma asked, figuring it out pretty quick.
“Yes, she does. If I don’t go back with money…”
Emma understood.
That wasn’t an issue. They would make sure that Alexsandra was covered that way.
“We’ll pay you. You don’t have to worry. I’ll take care of it.”
Only, she had a better idea.
She wasn’t just going to help her, she was going to save this child and give her a life that she deserved. Coming to them was hard.
Complicity was easy.
This took guts.
Emma would save her.
As Chris wheeled in a cart, Alex looked at it. There was a lot of food.
“That’s more than I eat in a week,” she admitted, her stomach growling.
Emma was aware. That was exactly why she was feeding her. In the business, it was rent, utilities, and clothing. Food was a luxury.
That was NO WAY a child—and she was still one—should live. There should be schoolbooks, cookies, and laughter. Emma was hell-bent on giving Alexsandra that.
No matter what.
“Let’s eat,” Emma stated.
It was the first step.
Food was love.
She could help heal with a meal.
Chris helped Emma up and then offered Alexsandra his hand to help her. She was in stilettos and looked about ready to break her neck.
Hesitantly, she took his hand.
He smiled.
“I promise that I won’t hurt you.”
She had no choice but to trust them, but when she sat at the table in the corner of the room, she sat beside Emma.
It was clear this girl was damaged.
Chris placed plates with heaping chicken salads on them and cups of fruit in front of the women, and then he poured them water from pretty bottles.
Emma pointed.
“Have at it. We’re starving,” she stated, pointing at Mac before digging into the meal.
For a few minutes, they didn’t speak.
“Thank you for lunch,” Alexsandra stated.
“It’s no problem.”
“Can you help me?” Alex finally asked as she ate her food. She desperately needed to know.
“Yeah, we will,” Emma stated. She knew that the connection wasn’t a coincidence. Lipton was running amuck and they needed to find out if it was he who was sending out Claude Black on his own, or if the commissioner was behind it.
No Justice_A Croft Mob Family Book Page 15